Although the recent firing of Monday Night Raw executive director Paul Heyman has led to rumors that some of the red brand’s superstars may soon be losing their push, that might not be the case with up-and-coming Mexican wrestler Angel Garza. As a new report suggests, WWE chairman Vince McMahon is so impressed with the 27-year-old that he has compared him to one of the company’s most iconic wrestlers of the last few decades.
On Tuesday, talkSPORT ‘s Alex McCarthy cited unnamed sources, writing that Garza has become one of McMahon’s recent favorites, with the WWE boss supposedly describing him as a “young Eddie Guerrero.” As explained, the comparisons between Garza and Guerrero — who was only 38 when he died of heart failure in 2005 — go beyond a shared Mexican heritage, as the erstwhile Raw superstar has a “similar kind of charisma and smoothness” in the ring.
Although Garza plays a secondary role to Andrade in the stable managed by Zelina Vega, McCarthy opined that the onetime cruiserweight division standout “may have outshone” the former United States Champion as the main attraction in the villainous group. He predicted that — based on how the faction’s storyline is currently playing out — it’s possible Garza may soon become a “focal point” on Monday Night Raw .
The charismatic @AngelGarzaWwe continues to be quite the dazzler on #WWERaw ! pic.twitter.com/oVJ5WPhbv5
— WWE (@WWE) April 14, 2020
As further noted, the 27-year-old has shown a lot of promise, despite the fact that he has only won four out of his last 16 matches and is typically used to put over more prominent names such as Kevin Owens, who defeated him on this week’s episode of Raw .
The report on McMahon’s supposed praise for Garza came just days after a major shakeup to the Raw creative team, which saw Heyman get removed as the brand’s executive director and replaced by Bruce Prichard. As noted by WrestlingNews.co , Garza is one of several wrestlers who were reportedly among Heyman’s favorite performers, as he had also supported other young and/or underutilized mid-carders such as Ricochet, Murphy, Aleister Black, and Apollo Crews. At this point, it’s unclear whether these wrestlers will remain relevant on Raw with Prichard now in charge.
While it may seem like a promising sign that Garza has been compared by McMahon to a former WWE Champion who was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame mere months after his passing, the chairman’s alleged tendency to quickly lose interest in certain wrestlers has been well-documented. Late last month, reports hinted that McMahon had given up on three Raw superstars — Ricochet, Humberto Carrillo, and Cedric Alexander — after initially considering each of them for a potential run with the United States Championship currently held by Crews.